That day, Gusur was all dressed up. He smelled really good. Earlier, Gusur had soaked in the bathtub for over two hours. Western-style bathing, you know. Of course, it made his grandpa worried. He thought Gusur might drown. Yeah, like there’s any replacement for a grandkid like him. You can’t buy one at the store. That’s why Grandpa was really worried and tried to sneak a peek into the bathroom.
Through the cracks of the door, Grandpa carefully peeked. Ah, his heart felt relieved. Turns out Gusur didn’t drown like he imagined. Instead, that kid was busy lathering himself with laundry soap, while whistling the Kalangkang song. Sometimes he even tucked the soap under his armpits. Grandpa couldn’t help but smile with joy. But in the end, he was disappointed. How could that kid be so heartless to soak in the tub? Especially when earlier it was Grandpa who was busy filling up the bathtub himself.
But Grandpa didn’t dare to complain. He didn’t want to disturb Gusur’s happiness. He was afraid the kid would cry and run away from home. Lately, Gusur’s behavior had been quite strange. He would climb on the roof at night. He would catch cats and count their fur. It’s all because a month ago, Gusur fell off a motorcycle. His temperature rose to 60 degrees. Even an egg would be cooked if you put it near Gusur. Now, even after recovering, he’s not a hundred percent normal. His weird habits still resurface from time to time. So, Grandpa just had to be patient, even though deep down he was annoyed. But hey, at least Grandpa could be happy seeing his beloved grandson happy. Another thing that made Grandpa happy was that with Gusur taking a bath, his sleep wouldn’t be disturbed anymore. Because yesterday that kid refused to take a bath all day.
And secretly, Grandpa tried to peek again. This time into Gusur’s room. Through the keyhole, Grandpa was watching Gusur admiring himself in the mirror. Sometimes he smiled. Sometimes he frowned. Just like someone practicing acting. What is that kid up to? Grandpa wondered. He didn’t dare to make any noise, afraid that Gusur would find out he was being spied on. Poor kid, he might feel embarrassed if he knew he was being watched. Because his behavior was really crazy. Taking a deep breath, Grandpa continued observing Gusur’s actions through the keyhole. He saw Gusur looking confused. Searching for something. What is he looking for? Oh, he’s looking for hair gel. No wonder he was confused earlier, putting the gel under the bed.
After finding it, Gusur quickly squeezed the gel tube, emptying its contents onto his left palm. Damn, that crazy kid doesn’t hold back when using anything. He squeezed out half a bottle of gel onto his hand.
Then he casually rubbed it into his hair. As a result, his hair was filled with thick liquids. Just like a rat falling into a drain. But Gusur didn’t seem to mind. He combed his hair slowly, while licking the remaining gel off his palm. Hihihi…
After neatly combing his hair, he tied his “wild orchestra” hair back. Wow, it looked cool. He looked like a DJ. Dedemit Jalanan, that’s what I meant.
“Where are you going, Sur? Why are you all dressed up?” his grandpa greeted him, kissing Gusur’s forehead as he came out of the room.
“Well, Grandpa, you don’t know yet? Today, Lupus invited me to go somewhere. He said he wants to enroll in college. Lupus wants to study there,” Gusur replied, fixing his hair.
“What’s college? I’ve never heard of it,” Grandpa said cluelessly.
“College is a school where the teachers are tall, you know,” Gusur explained casually.
And Grandpa nodded dumbly. Wow, it turns out Grandpa and his grandson are on the same wavelength. They both have limited thinking abilities.
“Oh, but, Kong,” Gusur suddenly blabbered again, “since I need money to get into college, I’m gonna ask for a subsidy from you. As a first step, for transportation expenses. And then the registration fee…”
“Oh, why does it always come down to money?” Grandpa grumbled.
“Well, but I have to, Kong,” Gusur started to sulk.
“If only I didn’t kiss you earlier,” Grandpa muttered.
“But Engkong still gotta pay taxes, man.”
“Yeah, yeah, so how much is it all?”
Gusur gets excited right away. “Two thousand for transportation. And twenty thousand for registration.”
“What? So it’s twenty-two thousand in total?”
“Well, I haven’t had breakfast yet, dude.”
“Oh my God, what do you want, Sur?”
“Both, man. Oh yeah, the meal costs one thousand five hundred, no bargaining. The price of sticky rice has gone up, right, Kong?”
“Damn, honestly, Engkong doesn’t really want a grandchild like you. Just good at hanging out. Good at eating. Good at sleeping. But no skills at all. If you were abandoned, who would take care of you, Sur,” grumbles Engkong as he opens his savings.
Gusur observes carefully.
“Here!” finally Engkong hands over the money, which Gusur immediately grabs. Bam!
“Yihuuu!” Gusur shouts while kissing Engkong’s cheeks left and right. “Thanks, Kong, thanks. May Engkong be accepted in the presence of the Almighty.”
Gusur then rushes off to pick up Boim.
